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Strategy for the sustainable competitiveness of the construction

sector

Communication COM (2012) 433 final

Vicente Leoz Argüelles

UNIEP POLICY DAY12th November 2012

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Outline of the presentation

• Preliminary considerations• Objectives and scope of the strategy• Action Plan• Governance

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Preliminary considerations

• Strategic importance of the construction sector for the EU (economic, environmental and social) Significant potential for growth & employment and for a

transition to low carbon economy

• Focus of many EU and national policies/initiatives Synergies to be strengthened

• Important problems and challenges, due to among others: crisis; increased competition with non-EU operators; shortfall of skills and qualifications; low attractiveness for young people; challenging energy, climate and environmental targets;

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The effects of the crisis

Source: Eurostat

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Building stock - challenge to reach 2050 target of 80-95% reduction in CO2 emission Type Number

Constructed before 1973

Number constructed after 1973

Overall % of total stock

Ind. Private residences 42,840,000 28,560,000 34%

Private Apartment buildings 17,640,000 11,760,000 14%

Public social housing 16,800,000 8,400,000 12%

Commercial buildings 18,900,000 44,100,000 30%

Public buildings 5,040,000 11,760,000 8%

Other 1,890,000 2,310,000 2%

Totals 103,110,000 106,890,000 100%

Demolition: 0.1% per annum=210,000

Renovation 1.2%per annum=2.5 million

New build: 1.0%Per annum=2.1 million

5 million buildings undergoing energy efficient renovation per year in 40 years2.1 million new builds must meet highest standards

Source: Architects Council of Europe - July 2010

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Objectives of the strategy

• To address the main challenges of the construction sector in terms of investment, human capital, energy and environmental requirements, regulation and market access by 2020

• To propose a short and medium tem action plan addressing these challenges

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Action Plan focusing on 5 objectives (I)

• (a) Stimulating favourable investment conditions; e.g. by:

• promoting the use of Structural Funds instruments and EIB additional lending capabilities to encourage building renovation and maintenance of small infrastructure;

• Developing schemes to cover performance guarantees by small building contractors;

• (b) Improving the human-capital basis; e.g. by:• Extending the BUILD UP initiative currently aiming only at adapting the vocational

training and education to qualification needs towards energy efficiency to other resource efficiency criteria;

• The launching and support campaigns to make construction sector more attractive to talented people;

• (c) Improving resource efficiency, environmental performance and business opportunities; e.g. by:

• Proposing a EU scheme for the environmental assessment of buildings;

• Promoting EU technical specifications for implementing such scheme;

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Action Plan focusing on 5 objectives (II)

•(d) Strengthening the Internal Market for construction; e.g. by:

• Identifying excessive administrative burdens, overlaps and inconsistencies in EU and MS legislation on construction;

• Cooperating with MS in improving the Market surveillance when implementing European legislation;

•(e) Fostering the global competitive position of EU construction enterprises; e.g. by:

• Encouraging the use of EU financial instruments like the EIB’s in support of transcontinental connections;

• Promoting the setting up of International fora to improve the cooperation with Africa, Latin America, Russia and Neighbourhood countries concerning sustainable construction, notably in public procurement.

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Governance

• A tripartite (COM, Member States, stakeholders) strategic forum to monitor progress with the implementation of the strategy, propose adjustments, appraise impacts and make recommendations on coordination issues (2 meetings per year)

• Thematic groups to discuss various approaches for specific initiatives, assess likely effects and identify synergies between internat./EU/national/regional actions (3-4 meetings per year)

Stakeholders involvment

• Mostly through European federations/associations related to the supply/value chain + financial and insurance sectors + property and developers +++

• Criteria: coverage of the supply/value chain, capacity to deal with a wide range of issues addressed by the

Communication, synergies developed with other sector initiatives contribution to the development/strengthening of national

sustainable construction strategies; ….

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